Charlton Athletic vs Nottingham Forest. Sky Bet Championship.
The ValleyAttendance17,204.
Watch live on Sky Sports Action from 7.40pm on Wednesday; kick-off is at 7.45pm
Tuesday 20 August 2019 18:10, UK
Charlton face Nottingham Forest in the Sky Bet Championship on Wednesday evening, live on Sky Sports.
Coverage gets underway live on Sky Sports Action from 7.40pm, while kick-off is at 7.45pm.
Charlton boss Lee Bowyer could include new signings Tomer Hemed and Erhun Oztumer in his side to face Nottingham Forest on Wednesday. Hemed moved on a free transfer after leaving Brighton, while fellow forward Oztumer also joined without a fee after being released by financially-troubled Bolton.
Defender Chris Solly will need to be assessed after suffering a head injury in the 2-2 draw at Barnsley on Saturday. The on-loan Beram Kayal is likely to miss out again with a groin injury while Lewis Page, who has not played since October, remains sidelined.
Forest boss Sabri Lamouchi says he is considering freshening up his side despite an impressive 3-0 win over Birmingham at the weekend. Lamouchi is concerned about a round of midweek fixtures so early in the season and wants to ensure there are fresh legs in the side to face Charlton.
Portuguese midfielder Joao Carvalho will travel with the squad as he nears a return from the injury he suffered in pre-season, although - with only a couple of training sessions under his belt - he is unlikely to feature. Yohan Benalouane remains sidelined following surgery.
Charlton have been one of the Championship's dark horses so far; Lee Bowyer's men beat Blackburn 2-1 on the opening day, going on to better that with a 3-1 win at home to Stoke seven days later. They lost on penalties to Forest Green in the Carabao Cup after a stalemate in 90 minutes but Lyle Taylor scored a late penalty in the 2-2 draw with Barnsley, taking his tally to three goals in as many games.
The Sabri Lamouchi era began with a 2-1 defeat to West Brom, but Forest responded by holding Leeds to a 1-1 draw, beating Fleetwood 1-0 in the cup and then displaying their ruthless streak on Saturday when Joe Lolley, Lewis Grabban and Michael Dawson scored in the 3-0 triumph over Birmingham.
This season saw Charlton return to the second tier for the first time since their miserable relegation under Jose Riga in 2015/16 and many felt that, in the midst of ongoing battles with owner Roland Duchatelet, they might struggle to keep their star assets, let alone hold their own. It's still early doors and this is a competitive division, but it probably couldn't have started in a much better fashion.
Aforementioned striker Lyle Taylor came close to a last-minute move to Brentford, but after a bid in the region of £5m was turned down, he remained at The Valley and has struck three goals already, to the delight of Addicks fans. It was a similar story with Lee Bowyer, who was almost denied a contract extension by Duchatelet, before the Belgian's rapid U-turn. With the bulk of his promoted squad remaining at Bowyer's disposal, the early signs are looking promising.
Charlton are unbeaten in their last six league games against Nottingham Forest (W2 D4 L0).
Nottingham Forest are looking for their first away league win at Charlton since a 2-0 victory in February 2013 under Billy Davies.
Since the start of last season, Charlton have won 16 penalties in league matches, with Lyle Taylor scoring nine of those spot kicks. Indeed, only Luka Milivojevic and John Akinde (10 each) have netted more within England's top four tiers since August 2018.
Both Charlton and Nottingham Forest have scored three goals from set-piece situations so far this season, the joint-most in the competition in 2019-20 (alongside Luton and Preston).
Charlton are looking to win their opening two home matches of a Championship season for the second successive campaign in the competition, having beaten QPR and Hull in 2015-16, before they were ultimately relegated to League One.
Nottingham Forest striker Lewis Grabban has scored three goals in six previous league appearances against Charlton, managing to both score and assist for Norwich on his last visit to The Valley, helping his side to a 3-2 victory.
There is an awful long way to go but Charlton have had an excellent start to life back in the Championship. The way they battled back twice at Barnsley for a draw on Saturday showed their resolve as well.
Sabri Lamouchi got his first win in charge of Nottingham Forest on Saturday, which will help settle things for him a little. I do, however, think this will be a draw.
David Prutton predicts: 1-1 (5/1 with Sky Bet)
